Editor’s Note | February 2007

Nancy Novogrod

May 12, 2009

If you are a devoted Travel + Leisure reader—and I hope you are—you will undoubtedly notice that this issue looks different. What you’re seeing is the result of many months of careful consideration of how best to address the ever evolving interests of our travel-savvy audience. The changes go far beyond new typefaces or graphic treatments right to the very heart of this magazine’s key mission, providing access to destinations in a comprehensive, authoritative, and inspiring way. User-friendliness has been a prime motivator as we’ve introduced more images and maps, expanded guides, and Web touts for further information. Our Reports pages (now called NewsFlash) can be found in the expanded Insider section, with all the latest on where to go, what to eat, where to stay, and what to buy. My thanks to the magazine’s abundantly talented creative director, Nora Sheehan, who made this transformation possible.

In this sparkling new context you will also find T+L’s annual salute to romance (it’s February, after all), with "Dream Trips" from the coast of California to Thailand. Gary Shteyngart reveals his favorite haunts off the beaten track in Rome ("Hidden Rome"). And farther off the track is Pankaj Mishra’s report on Mongolia ("Inland Empire"), from the capital Ulaanbaatar and beyond. The indefatigable Lee brothers find real French flavor (though not the woman in the Polaroid) in Quebec ("Past Perfect"), and Karrie Jacobs pursues modern interpretations of the real in Florida’s New Urbanist communities ("Paradise, U.S.A."). These writers, all T+L contributing editors, remain a constant.